Tag Archives: Tea Time Snacks

The biscuit de Savoie is a tasty, light and fluffy sponge cake. The cake originated in the French region of Savoy (the name translates literally to “Savoy biscuit”) in the 18th century. It is important to bear in mind that the recipe for this biscuit contains no leavening agents. This means that the batter must be thoroughly beaten in order to infuse the cake with air, creating the light and airy texture that defines this cake.

I am obsessed with seeds of all kinds and while I love pumpkin and chia, there is something so exotic and oriental (oriental because I have plenty of memories of sesame encrusted sushi in Japan when I went there a decade ago and then some more from the stuff that Sadaharu Aoki a master Pattisier I encountered in Paris) about sesame seeds that I have been scooping for recipes to work with them. I recently came across something on one of the blogs I follow and I instantly knew that this is what I wanted my weekend baking to be.

So, here is a superb carrot cake recipe generously topped with sesame seeds. Also, carrots and sesame together are a bundle of health – sesame is super rich in antioxidants and vitamins and carrots are one of the biggest sources of Vitamin A. So let’s eat more cake!

Note: Be generous with the amount of sesame seeds you put on top of this loaf, the more the merrier. Let these tiny happy seeds fall all over the plate as u pull it out of the loaf tin and cut the cake; it’s great fun picking them off the plate later.

It’s my birthday, yay! And I woke up not wanting to bake myself a cake. Any baker buddies listening? But it was such a crisp morning that I couldn’t help but go back into my studio. Somebody gifted me a whole heap of cinnamon from Srilanka which was lying around in the kitchen. The smell of cinnamon and the sound of Simon and Garfunkel filled my morning and my head started spinning with happiness. What a perfect way to start a birthday morning!

And that’s that. I instantly knew that I had to do something with cinnamon and there it was, a deep craving for Cinnabons. I had found my birthday purpose.

Cinnabons or Cinnamon Pull Aparts are so easy to make and so delicious to be had, pretty much as soon as they’re out of the oven, with a cup of coffee. However, what they need is a little patience, as it’s always needed with any kind of work with yeast.
A few hours of watching the dough rise gives me such a thrill.

Some egg for the egg wash unless we are drizzling it with some cream cheese icing !

The filling

50 gms butter

1½ tbsp Cinnamon

100 gms brown sugar

Instructions

Take yeast in a bowl and pour over warm milk. let is rest for 5-8 minutes . It may or may not froth. Don't panic. Just make sure your yeast if of good quality. I use Prime yeast.

Take flour, sugar, salt, oil in another bowl and pour the yeast mix a little at a time. Keep mixing as you add the yeast. You don't need a blender just keep stirring with a spatula.

If your mixing bowl is large enough you could knead in the bowl itself, else transfer all the ingredients onto a table top and knead for a few minutes. Grease a bowl, place the rolled up dough in it and cover with a damp cloth and keep aside. Be patient.

In about 2 hours the dough should double up. Knead it once more and flour the table top to roll out the dough into a rectangle.

Using a pastry brush spread the butter across the rolled dough. Sprinkle cinnamon and all the brown sugar leaving about half and inch towards one end . If you like raisins then black raisins are lovely with this and u could add them here.

Roll the rectangle gently into a log making sure the the sugar and the raisins don't fall out. Add some egg wash to the end which is not sprinkled with sugar and stick it such that it holds the log together.

Using a sharp knife cut the log into slices and place them in a buttered rectangle tin.

Cover with cling film and keep aside for a little less than an hour.

Bake for 35 minutes at 165 degree Celcius in a pre-heated oven.

3.5.3208

Rolled Dough

Sliced Log

Cinnabons

While it’s cooling, make some coffee, put on your favourite music and find your comfortable spot. Eat on! Happy birthday to me.

For as long as I could remember, I have not liked coconut in anything sweet. The only chocolate I never enjoyed was Bounty. How sad that it took me so long to discover how delicious and healthy this most easily available nut is. I started consuming EV coconut oil in things once the whole world started proclaiming its many advantages. And well, it grew on me.

I experimented with coconut in my baking and now I simply love it. I can create a whole new menu with things made from coconut. Tried coconut sugar ? It’s beautiful!

It started with me finding fresh fennel at the market I go to, to shop for vegetables and fresh herbs. I made some rosemary and fennel chicken and the aroma filled up the house leaving everyone pretty happy. This made me want to use fennel in my bakes so there I was trying to make my baking studio smell of fennel. I searched around and came across this recipe, tweaked it just a bit and here it goes. The recipe called for dried fennel seeds so I stuck to that, add as much as you want for flavour. Gods were by my side and I had some fantastic organic aniseed extract which I also added to the mini cakes. It’s gluten free, butter free and if u skip the icing (please don’t) it’s sugar free too. Enjoy!

The financier (pronounced fee-nahn-see-AY) often shows up on petit four plates all over France. There are many stories about how the financier got its name so I’m sharing just one of many. The financier was created by a baker named Lasne, whose bakery on the Rue St. Denis was near the Bourse, the financial center of Paris. Presumably, the rich little cake was named for the rich financiers who frequented his bakery. The cake was baked in rectangular molds, the shape of gold bars. I like this story!

It’s deceptively simple, but perhaps like all things French, so damn refined! It’s a staple at almost all the fine pastry shops across France and now they seem to be pretty popular almost across all the fine pastry shops in the world. It seems like an ordinary little tea cake but that’s why I said it’s so deceptive; it’s so different from a cake.

For one it appears in all kinds of shapes – round in some places and rectangular in the others (see the molds I found on my trip to France).

Second it’s so damn versatile – you can make them all so entirely different; drop pistachios in some, pecans or strawberries in others, dark chocolate nibs in some or mix and match in some…

Refined as it may seem it is relatively easy to make. A few tricks to keep in mind and you are home.

What you need is a whisk, a bowl, a pan and some French wine and some Jazz. The last two ingredients are not for the financier but for your soul.

A few steps make or break the cake. The first, browning the butter is what defines its flavour and adds depth to whatever the base nut you are using (almonds are the most traditional but hazelnuts or even cashews work just as well). You need to heat the butter over medium low heat until it begins to brown and smell nutty. Undercooking it is equally damaging for it will lack the necessary aroma.

The second trick is to mix the batter as little as possible. It should be stirred until just blended. If you stir too much, the gluten in the flour will get overworked and the cake will be tough.

The third trick they say is to rest the batter before baking. A few hours in the refrigerator and the flavours will harmonize. I have never been able to wait.

And one last bit; you have to eat them fresh. Now that’s not much of a problem, is it?

Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add in previously beaten egg whites; whisk together by hand until ingredients have been combined.

To brown the butter, melt butter in a sauce pan over low to medium heat until bits begin browning. Continue whisking slowly to prevent browned bits from settling. Strain melted butter through a cheesecloth.

While still hot, slowly pour browned butter into batter, simultaneously whisking the batter until combined.

Evenly distribute batter among molds or mini-muffin tin wells, leaving about ⅛" of space from the rim.

Lower oven temperature to 170 degrees, and bake on the center rack for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a tester comes out clean.

A scone can be described as a single serving cake or a quick bread. It’s a traditional English tea time treat; I like them for breakfast though. You can call it a kind of pastry since they are made with the same ingredients as short crust albeit with different proportions.

But really scones are so versatile. You can add your favourite ingredients to them. Most dried fruits pair well and so does chocolate. But, when I started figuring out the best way to make them I came across at least 15 different versions – add buttermilk, no butter milk, add egg, no egg, self raising flour, regular flour… it’s really endless. I tried a few variations myself and settled for this.

I didn’t have clotted cream at home so I just ate them up with butter – a generous dollop of it – and some jam.

If you want something warm, not too sweet, and made from scratch this is the recipe. The classic combination of apple and rosemary marries in a buttermilk and olive oil batter lightly flavoured with a hint of warm spices. Don’t want a loaf? You can bake it in muffin tins for muffins or, dollop it in a hot pan coated with oil and make pancakes. This batter will work for all three. I highly suggest trying it as pancakes.

Fabulously buttery, tender, sandy textured cookies that are so right with tea or coffee!

Sables – French Cookies

In France, these cookies are known as Sables; in Scotland they are called Shortbread. Be soft and gentle while working on this flour, don’t over beat. Remember ‘sandy’ texture is what you need to aim for. I Can never forget this recipe as it was my first at Le Cordon Bleu – the chef who demonstrate this was ooo la la…Chef Patrick, cuisine chef who came in just to teach us this.